The present invention relates to heat removal in a computer system. More particularly, the present invention relates to dual-sided heat sinks for microelectronic devices mounted parallel to a substrate.
As the speed and component density of modern microelectronic devices continues to increase, the heat generated by them also generally increases. Techniques for better dissipating the heat from microelectronic devices are thus desirable, especially with higher performance devices. The term microelectronic device, as used in this disclosure, is intended to be broad and include, but not be limited to, electronic and opto-electronic devices such as microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), chipsets, and the like. Although for clarity, the term microelectronic device is used in the singular, it is also intended to include a plurality of individual devices.
In virtually all systems using electronic components, the microelectronic device is mounted on a substrate which facilitates the distribution of electrical signals, as well as power and ground, between the microelectronic device and other system components. However, the substrates are often not made of material that is a particularly good thermal conductor. Examples of such substrates include organic land grid arrays (OLGAs), plastic land grid arrays (PLGAs), and printed circuit boards (PCBs). The present invention is not, however, intended to be limited to embodiments using any particular substrate material or device mounting configuration.
It would be desirable to be able to provide cooling on both sides of the device while eliminating the large thermal barrier of the substrate.